Archive for the ‘Abortion’ Category

Part of the mental illness that is PUMA is the delusion that Sarah Palin is a super-secret liberal. PUMAs hold this belief despite Palin’s stated positions on the issues, her actions as governor of Alaska and mayor of Wasilla, and her lack of any positive record when it comes to gay or women’s rights. To PUMAs, it’s as if simply having a vagina confers all sort of progressive credibility on Gov. Palin, never mind her self-professed status as a right-wing fundamentalist wingnut.

None has been more outspoken in this delusion than Egalia, the proprietor of Tennessee Guerilla Women. So it’s no shock, then, to see Egalia gushing over Palin’s recent pick of Morgan Christen to the Supreme Court of Alaska. Christen is a former board member of Planned Parenthood and seems to be legitimately on the right side of most issues. To Egalia, this is proof positive that Palin really is the pro-choice feminist of the PUMA hivemind’s dreams, and Gov. Palin is somehow owed an apology by those who (correctly) called her pro-life right winger during the campaign.

If this was all there is to the story, that might very well be right. However, Egalia and her PUMA friends are purposely ignoring quite a bit of context to this pick. From the Washington Times writeup (HT: Andrew Sullivan):

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had to make a tough choice in filling a vacant slot on her state’s Supreme Court: Appoint a woman who once served on the board of Planned Parenthood, or risk giving an environmentalist lawyer, also pro-choice on abortion, the chance to become an activist judge.

…

He admitted, however, that Mrs. Palin was “backed into a corner” by the state’s system for selecting judges, known as the “Missouri Plan.” Alaska’s constitution requires an independent panel to vet and then submit choices to the governor when positions on the court open up. The only names the panel submitted for consideration were Judge Christen and Mr. Smith – neither an obvious conservative choice.

“She didn’t have the ability to go out and pick anyone she wanted,” said Palin communications director Bill McAllister.

(Boldmine)

So Palin was forced by Alaskan law to choose between a liberal pro-choicer and a liberal pro-choicer and chose a liberal pro-choicer. Egalia wants to give Palin credit for this? Especially when Palin’s own staffer says that Judge Christen would not have been Palin’s pick had she a freer hand?

I’m sure Egalia’s next project is to portray Laura Sessions Stepp as a radical feminist. With a little bit of quote mining and a whole lotta lying, it should be a snap.

I’d like to take slight issue with Shakesville’s William K. Wolfrum, namely that his contention about Hillary Clinton voters skeptical of Barack Obama:

Because at a dedicated progressive and feminist blog where numerous voices and perspectives are presented, I find the accusation that individuals that have not leaped aboard the Barack Obama bandwagon are doing so out of spite to be spiteful in their own way.

And of course this is true…partially. Every Obama skeptic is not a PUMA, nor are all Obama skeptics motivated out of spite. It’s perilous enough to start assigning motives to people whatever their opinion may be, and it’s a weak argumentative tactic, bordering on the ad hominem.

Still, I read this from Riverdaughter and start to think the spite charge has merit, at least in some instances:

She’s anti-choice.Truth: We know what she is but if Obamaphiles insist on calling us post-menopausal, dried up pussies, you shouldn’t be surprised if we are suddenly unsympathetic towards young female Obamaphiles who find themselves unintentionally pregnant. Some of us fought those battles in the 60’s. Some of us took advantage of the battles won in the 70’s and 80’s. Some of us continue to fight in the 90’s and 00’s. But we’re not your parents who are responsible for getting you out of every scrape. YOU are responsible for your own fate. If you don’t like the anti-choice leanings of your next president and vice president, work your ass off for downticket Dems so Republicans can’t ram through any more anti-choice legislation. You’re old enough. Do it yourself. Besides, you female Obamaphiles had a choice in Hillary Clinton who was committed to prtecting your reproductive freedom. Instead, you picked a man who is actively courting evangelical voters and watering down the pro-choice section of the Democratic platform. And you have the nerve to call US dumb?

Riverdaughter feels that women who voted for Obama deserve to have unwanted pregnancies without the option of abortion. Revenge against those who had the temerity to disagree with her is more important to her than political principles she claims to champion. I don’t know how you can describe this as anything other than spiteful.

We defend Sarah Palin against misogynist smears not because we endorse her or her politics, but because that’s how feminism works.

So while McEwan upholds her principles, even to protect a political adversary, Riverdaughter would throw hers under the bus if it would adversely affect an Obama-supporting woman. Not all Obama skeptics are PUMAs, nor are all Obama skeptics acting out of spite. Some obviously are, however, and it’s not a lie to say as much.

Sciencebloggers Orac and Marc Chu-Carroll tag team to produce the most authoritative takedown of the “abortion causes breast cancer” canard that I’ve yet seen. Short story: the study’s author simply dropped data that didn’t fit with his desired outcome, and he apparently can’t standard deviate his way out of a paper bag.